United States, 1929–1939

Democracy · Republic · North America · Interwar Years era

The Great Depression: economic shock and the growth of the state, but with democratic institutions preserved.

The 1929 crash cascaded into bank failures, unemployment near a quarter of the workforce, and deflation. The New Deal expanded federal regulation, relief and social insurance while surviving confrontation with the Supreme Court. Elections and democratic institutions continued without interruption. Recovery remained partial until wartime mobilization.

Open United States 1929–1939 in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Democratization
  • Great-Power Rivalry

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power10
Media Control19
Repression30
Nationalism54
Militarization38
Economic Stress50
External Conflict28
Cult of Personality11
Elite Fragmentation55
Institutions88
Social Polarization32
Corruption & Patrimonialism13
Ideological Mobilization61
External Sovereignty96

Economy & society

GDP per capita$10k (intl-$)
GDP growth-0.7%/yr
Population128.2M people
Share of world population5.6%
Life expectancy60.7 years

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles United States 1929–1939, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. Switzerland, 1848–1914 – similarity 85/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  2. Sweden, 1932–1976 – similarity 83/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  3. United Kingdom, 1815–1837 – similarity 81/100 · shared: Democratization
  4. Sweden, 1939–1945 – similarity 81/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  5. Australia, 1901–1914 – similarity 80/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  6. United States, 1860–1865 – similarity 79/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  7. West Germany, 1949–1990 – similarity 79/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry
  8. United States, 1993–2001 – similarity 78/100 · shared: Democratization, Great-Power Rivalry

What followed

  • The New Deal and expansion of the state.
  • Gradual economic recovery.